Note: This story includes my personal headcanon as to Timothy being an only child.
Patrick had a certain rapport with the new nurse different than with the others. She wasn't actually new any longer as she had earned her stripes. Perhaps the difference was because he had to look up to her, literally. He liked that she was an odd duck and quite often a duck out of water at the same time.
The one thing she did was make him laugh and that was certainly something he hadn't done enough of this past year. In fact walking up to the Church Hall door together she told him a story that had him in stitches. He suddenly felt happy and as a result entered the antenatal clinic with a smile on his face. He might even admit that he was in a jolly good mood.
He always loved clinic day. He saw patients as part of a well-oiled machine and felt a part of something bigger. It also was exactly as he envisioned his work would be when he chose to serve the East End. He was making a difference thanks to the National Health Service.
Still there was another difference that he wanted to make. There were far too many babies being born in the district, everywhere really. It was unnecessary because family size could be managed with proper prevention. He and his beloved Marianne were able to manage theirs. Truth told he would have liked another child or two, but Marianne never approved of large families. Because his work often left her to raise Timothy alone, he didn't attempt to change her mind. Now none of that really mattered anymore.
It was because they got on so well that he asked Nurse Browne to teach the contraceptive session. The goal was to reduce the number of babies being born into families that couldn't afford to care for them.
He just wished that God wasn't mixed up in the issue of contraception. Ironically Sister Bernadette had often taught the sessions and who would argue God's wishes with a nun. He personally thought it was a bit ironic for a nun who would never have marital relations to demonstrate the proper placement of a sheath on a wooden penis.
When he saw Sister Bernadette later he asked how the session had gone.
She laughed and answered, "Chummy did a marvelous job. She was a bit shaky at first, but she recovered remarkably."
"Wonderful Sister," he smiled.
"Was there something else doctor?"
"No, no thank you Sister."
As he walked away he thought about how her blue eyes sparkled when she laughed.
